A mother and son carried out a copy-book escape when a chip pan caught fire in their Stockton home early today.

The woman was alerted by the smell of smoke at their home in Dovecot Street and woke her son.

They left the house without opening the kitchen door and rang the fire brigade soon after midnight.

Station Officer Ian Dunning of Stockton fire station said: "Having smelt the smoke she left the house with her son without opening the kitchen door. This is exactly what we recommend."

But firefighters found a smoke alarm had a battery removed because it had been going off too often while cooking.

SO Dunning added: "We fitted smoke alarms in more appropriate places. We want to let people know we will always fit a smoke alarm if you have a fire. But we would rather fit them before you have a fire. There is a special number people can ring to arrange a free fire home safety visit from us."